CHINO – Joining a growing trend in California public schools, four Chino Valley Unified School District schools will offer full-day kindergarten in the 2010-11 school year.

The switch from half-day classes will provide convenient transportation opportunities for parents and additional instructional time for students, school officials said.

Rolling Ridge and Country Springs elementary schools in Chino Hills as well as Dickson and E.J. Marshall elementary schools in Chino will start full-day kindergarten in August.

“With half-day kindergarten, they’re trying to get so much done with academic things, and they just don’t have the time to fit in more extracurricular activities, like art or time for kids to learn to interact with each other,” said Rose Ruppert, who will enroll her child in full-day kindergarten at Rolling Ridge.

“Three-and-a-half hours isn’t enough time.”

The four schools are part of a Chino Valley Unified pilot program that could lead to additional elementary schools in the district having full-day kindergarten.

Full-day kindergarten classes in California have increased from 11 percent to about 43 percent in the past decade, according to a Public Policy Institute of California report. The increase has been partly related to policy changes that allow school districts to offer full-day classes without receiving a waiver from the state Board of Education.

In Los Angeles County, 74 percent of kindergartners are enrolled in full-day classes, while only 18 percent of Inland Empire kindergarteners are in class for the entire school day, according to the report.

Some teachers and parents said they are looking forward to a longer class day, as more time will be used to teach social skills, language and the arts.

“Ever since I’ve been here, I’ve wanted full day because everything seems to rushed,” said Marshall Elementary kindergarten teacher Rosa Munoz, who has taught for the past 23 years in the school district.

“With the new standards, we’ve added so much to the curriculum, so we need more time.”

Kindergartners will also have more time to acquire social skills that will help them in later grades, said Jesus Luna, Marshall’s principal.

“If kindergarten students are more exposed to special experiences working with groups, they will learn to be better socially, more respectful, more responsible and more organized,” Luna said.

Kindergarten classes at the four elementary schools will conclude at the same time as other classes at the schools.

Half-day kindergarten has been difficult for some parents who have to pick up their children at different times of the day.

Parent Senga Larson – who has a daughter entering kindergarten at Country Springs Elementary next school year – said she would have been in a difficult situation if not for the change to full day.

“I have a son going into the third grade, so it would have meant me going back and forth … to pick my daughter up at 11:30 a.m. and then having to go back to pick up my son,” Larson said.

“It will be so much easier to drop and pick them up at the same time.”

Neil Nisperos has been a reporter covering everything from business to education, courts, politics, city government, features, arts and entertainment since 1999. On social media, he has a combined following of about 25,300 people over various apps and platforms. He's passionate about the cinema, science, philosophy, poetry, art, photography, culture, literature and history. He feels fortunate to be in the profession that keeps power in check, memorializes people's stories for posterity and helps people with useful information.